Resistance to the privatization of UB and other promising activities on campus

By James Holstun

What’s large, ungainly, rust-colored, constantly threatened with extinction, yet surprisingly rambunctious?

A. The buffalo (bison bison)
B. The City of Buffalo (metropolis rustbeltica)
C. The University at Buffalo (academica publica)
D. All of the above.

People thinking about college campuses sometimes have an image of the radical sixties and seventies followed by apolitical torpor thereafter. But there are more signs of active political life at UB than there have been in decades. Here are a few highlights, which I hope will be of interest to WNYPC members.

UB Students Against Sweatshops
The committed activism of UBSAS is responsible for the formation of the UB Sweatfree Advisory Committee (SAC), which includes students, faculty, and academic staff. SAC works to monitor the compliance with fair labor standards of factories who manufacture apparel using the UB logo. For this and other activities of UBSAS, including contact information, please see their
blog (http://ubsas.blogspot.com/).

UB Students for Justice in Palestine
For the first time in decades, a group at UB has formed with the express purpose of working for peace and justice against the Israeli occupation of Palestine. UB SJP, which represents students, faculty and employees, has already begun coordinating advocacy work with the Palestine-Israel Committee of the WNYPC. For more, including contact information, please see the UB SJP blog (http://ubsjp.blogspot.com/). 

The United Socialist Movement of the Americas
The USMA aims to foster socialist culture and activism, with semi-autonomous chapters stretching from Hamilton, Canada, to Caracas, Venezuela. The new Buffalo chapter, with a strong presence on the UB campus, hosted the USMA yearly convention in March. For more information, please see the group’s Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=28231502586&ref=mf).

UB2020 and UUP
Most Western New Yorkers have probably heard about UB2020, the UB Administration’s proposal for revitalizing UB and Western New York along with it. It has many exciting and plausible aspects, but there is a significant downside.

A/S2020, the NYS Assembly and Senate bills associated with UB2020, would make it possible for campus officials to raise tuition, break down the unionized bargaining unit by contracting out jobs, and corporatize the university in other ways. This bill has made it through the Senate but is currently stalled in the Assembly. UUP, the statewide faculty-professionals union, is leading opposition to this bill in the hopes of keeping UB and SUNY as a whole a genuinely public and accessible university system.

Gender Equity at UB
The struggle for gender equity at UB stretches back to the late sixties, with many ups and downs, including small successes and missed opportunities. Lately, a small group of faculty has been pointing to significant evidence of gender bias in promotions and tenure at UB, with women being turned down at a rate more than twice that of men.

The UB Administration has selected a commission to study the problem, but the advocacy work continues locally and in national media. For more information, please see Stephanie Lee,
“Gender Bias at SUNY-Buffalo?” (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/07/06/tenure).

The UB Progressive Alliance
The UBPA is a group of staff, students, and faculty interested in fostering social justice. They have coordinated with the Peace Center in a number of its activities, including organizing lectures and protests of campus visits by Colin Powell, Karl Rove, and Wesley Clark. For more information, please contact Jim Holstun at jamesholstun@hotmail.com.

Contributions via SEFA
Peace Center members who work at UB and at other state agencies might want to keep in mind the possibility of donating to the Western New York Peace Center through SEFA, making regular, painless payroll deductions. Please look for your SEFA signup packet this fall, which will give you the code for the WNYPC. A contribution of just $5 a pay period would be a great help. And please ask your friends and colleagues to consider making a donation through SEFA. Thanks!

Jim Holstun is a UB professor and board member at the WNY Peace Center.